Cardinal Nichols comes to the defence of immigrants

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, has defended immigrants who come to Britain to ‘work hard and make a very positive contribution’ and said London would ‘grind to a halt’ without them.

The cardinal said that voters need to remember that the ‘people we are talking about’ are drowning trying to get to Europe because they are so desperate to travel to this country.

“Every party has to be tested on its approach to immigration,” he said in a BBC interview. “It is a really difficult issue. What I want to keep saying is these are people we are talking about. The people who drown in the Med trying to get into Europe, the people who are caged in Calais because they are desperate.

“We have to somehow keep the human person at the front of all these issues and remember this city would grind to a halt without the contribution of people who come to this country” he went on. “I am [dismayed it is such a big issue]. We need to back and say what is our stance towards the world around us, do we see ourselves genuinely as a player or contributor wanting to build something that is better for everyone.”